NFPA 99 | Healthcare Facilities Code

NFPA 99 establishes criteria for levels of health care services or systems based on risk to the patients, staff, or visitors in health care facilities to minimize the hazards of fire, explosion, and electricity.

The NFPA 99 Healthcare Facilities Code committee develops a distinct consensus document (i.e. “regulatory product”) that is distinct from National Electrical Code Article 517; though there are occasional overlap and gaps. It is worthwhile reviewing the scope of each committee:

NFPA 99 Scope: This Committee shall have primary responsibility for documents that contain criteria for safeguarding patients and health care personnel in the delivery of health care services within health care facilities: a) from fire, explosion, electrical, and related hazards resulting either from the use of anesthetic agents, medical gas equipment, electrical apparatus, and high frequency electricity, or from internal or external incidents that disrupt normal patient care; b) from fire and explosion hazards; c) in connection with the use of hyperbaric and hypobaric facilities for medical purposes; d) through performance, maintenance and testing criteria for electrical systems, both normal and essential; and e) through performance, maintenance and testing, and installation criteria: (1) for vacuum systems for medical or surgical purposes, and (2) for medical gas systems; and f) through performance, maintenance and testing of plumbing, heating, cooling , and ventilating in health care facilities.

NFPA 70 Article 517 Scope: The provisions of this article shall apply to electrical construction and installation criteria in healthcare facilities that provide services to human beings. The requirements in Parts II and III not only apply to single-function buildings but are also intended to be individually applied to their respective forms of occupancy within a multi-function building (e.g. a doctor’s examining room located within a limited care facility would be required to meet the provisions of 517.10) Informational Note: For information concerning performance, maintenance, and testing criteria, refer to the appropriate health care facilities documents.

In short, NFPA 70 Article 517 is intended to focus only on electrical safety issues though electrotechnology complexity and integration in healthcare settings (security, telecommunications, wireless medical devices, fire safety, environmental air control, etc.) usually results in conceptual overlap with other regulatory products such as NFPA 101 (Life Safety Code) and the International Building Code.

Public input has been received by NFPA 99 technical committee administration and will be posted for public comment no later than February 27, 2019. Until then, we will be sitting in on the expert discussions hosted by the ICC, IEEE, ASTM, ASHRAE and others. We will slice through them all and host a teleconference for facility managers for university-affiliated medical research and healthcare delivery enterprises on August 23rd, 11 AM. Feel free to login with the information the link below:

It is not too early to begin formulating concepts for the 2021 revision of NFPA 99 Health Care Facilities Code. Some of the concepts we are advocating in Article 517 for the 2020 revision of National Electrical Code (now being debated among several NEC working groups) may be more effectively placed in NFPA 99; though the concepts belong in either document is an issue over which good minds will disagree.

Several workgroups are already convening ahead of the Public Input meetings in Hiltonhead, SC in January 2018; one of which is examining proposals from Standards Michigan and the American Society of Healthcare Engineering for “rightsizing” the healthcare facility building power supply chain. Access to the work in progress of those working groups is available at this link: 2020 NEC Concepts Landing Page

We have resumed our regularly scheduled weekly open door teleconferences during which time we will review standards advocacy priorities — every Wednesday, 11:00 – 11:30 AM Eastern Time. Anyone is welcomed to join these teleconferences from your computer, tablet or smartphone with the login information below: